In a closely watched parliamentary vote, Shigeru Ishiba was confirmed as prime minister Monday, overcoming the first hurdle on what is expected to be an especially tricky road for the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling bloc in the Lower House.
The ruling bloc’s failure to reach a majority in the recent Lower House election saw Ishiba forced into a runoff, after no candidate for prime minister was able to secure 233 votes, the threshold for a simple majority, in the first round of voting.
Toward the end of the first plenary session of the new parliament, Ishiba swept the runoff against Yoshihiko Noda, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), the largest opposition party in parliament.
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